In prior art combat simulation games, such as laser tag and paintball games, players attempt to “shoot” one another with beams of light or projectiles to remove players from an opposing team from the game. When struck with a paintball, the resulting spot of paint on the player indicates that the player has been hit and must be removed from active game play. When beams of light are utilized as the simulated projectile, the light beam strikes a suitable receiver on or worn by the player, which senses the beam and provides an indication that the player has been struck by the beam, such as by energizing a light on the player.
While both of these systems of playing combat simulation games are adequate to effectively play the game, each has certain deficiencies. For example, when utilizing paintballs as the projectile, sometimes the paintball will not break upon striking an individual, so the player is incorrectly not removed from the game, or will break on a non-player object, such as a tree or other structure used in the game play, and will splatter onto the player, resulting in the player being incorrectly removed from the game.
The use of IR or laser beams overcomes certain of these problems because the beams will not bounce off of objects or players, reducing the occurrences of incorrect results concerning the removal of a player. However, even when using IR or laser beams certain problems arise, such as the limited number of locations available on the player to receive and register the IR or laser beam due to the weight of the receivers.
Additionally, regardless of the manner of projectile utilized in the game play, one significant deficiency in the manner of game play arises in the ability to effectively monitor the game play as it is occurring, as well as to rank individual player on their performances during game play. While it is currently possible to track the performance of a player based on the length of time a player remains in the game, and the number of kills a player makes through observations of the player during game play, it is desirable to develop a gaming system that allows for a more complete analysis of the game play of an individual, and to also enable that analysis to be utilized in ranking the player more accurately based on the actual game play of the individual as it is occurring, which can also be compared to and viewed by other players.
Therefore, it is desirable to develop a system to be utilized in playing a combat simulation game that provides the capability to monitor the game play of an individual player, while also enabling the game play statistics to be recorded and viewed by other individuals who are not participating in the game play, to provide detailed player performance data for individuals playing the game with one another as well as with other players who are not participating in the present game play, but have participated in prior recorded game play on the system.